The foreign minister and first deputy prime minister said these people had to choose between keeping their Qatari nationality or their original nationalities, and said this was being tackled as a pressing domestic issue.

"Injustice was done to part of this group ... Our human rights committee had issued a statement a few days ago and it is being discussed by the cabinet, which had sent to the amir to look into it," he told Aljazeera.

"We don't want to enter into a political game. The case is now in front of the cabinet and any mistakes that were made will be rectified."

Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem also accused outside parties, whom he refused to name, of trying to exploit the issue for political reasons.

In the interview, he

denied that revoking the citizenship of these people was aimed at punishing members of the al-Murra tribe in particular.

Al-Murra are a formerly nomadic, bedouin tribe whose roots trace back to eastern parts of Saudi Arabia around the Qatari border.